Kailash Mansarovar: The mystic journey to Self Awareness (part 1)

Kailash-Mansarovar is centre of ‘Aastha’ of crores of Hindus, Tibetans and other religions. Devoid of vegetation, at a height of 21,778 ft (MSL), the journey to this mystic land invokes mesmerising emotions, making one feel being in God’s Abode, in His care.

I and my husband ‘Sunil’ were blessed to take this journey in June 2018, in presence of our Guruji ‘Sadguru Swami Krishnanadji Maharaj’, for his guidance and blessings, we are on a path of continuous self-awareness. It was total 13 days of journey. We were a group of 47 disciples of our Guruji who had come from different parts of India.

What makes the journey to “Kailash Mansarovar’ so special is that it is not only about a trip to a high altitude terrain, or a pilgrimage to abode of lord Shiva, but the important lessons of life one learns when one takes up such a life time journey. It teaches you that journey of life cannot be planned, one must be ready for the twist and turns, and the unpredictability. It teaches – how one can survive with bare necessities, how one has to be accommodative, and how it feels when you are cut off from your loved ones for days.

The journey helps you to get rid of fear of death, which haunts you because of the uncertainty of returning back alive and healthy. You still want to go ahead even when you hear about deaths of fellow passengers, to complete your journey. It teaches you the biggest lesson of life- that even though we live with our loved ones, one’s life journey is alone. It is unexplainable in words, only one can experience. And when the journey is completed, the feeling is overwhelming,  no less than achieving an Olympic medal. You return as a totally changed soul, matured and evolved.

Before, I share details of the journey, it is important to know certain facts about Mount Kailash and Mansarovar.

• Mount Kailash is located in Tibet (China), at an altitude of 6,638 m (21,778 ft).
• Every year, thousands of pilgrims enter Tibet for pilgrimage to the holy Mount Kailash. A few make it to the region and a very few manage to finish circumambulation of the hallowed peak. As for climbing up the summit, some daring mountaineers have attempted to do so, but with no luck.
• For Hindus, Mt. Kailash is the abode of ‘Adi- Yogi’ Lord Shiva and Parvati, along with Devas, Ganas, Yakshas, Yogis, Siddha Purushas and Gandharvas.
• Mention of the Mt. Kailash Yatra is made in the Ramayana, Mahabharata, and Skanda Purana etc.
• Mount Kailash is believed to be the Axis Mundi aka the cosmic axis, world axis, world pillar, centre of the world, the world tree. It is the point where heaven meets earth. 
• Two beautiful lakes, namely Mansarovar and Rakshas Taal, are located at the base of Mount Kailash. Of the two, Mansarovar, which lies at an altitude of 14, 950 ft, is highest freshwater body in the world. True to its nature, the water of the holy Lake Mansarovar stays placid whether it is windy or not.

There are many routes to Kailash Mansarovar, one can travel via Nepal or directly to China, and then  via Lhasa which is capital of Tibet. We took the route of Nepal.

New Delhi –> Kathmandu –> Nepalgunj –> Simikot –> Hilsa–>Taklakot(Tibet)–>Kailash Mansarovar

We arrived Kathmandu around 10 pm by Royal Nepal Airlines. Rest of the group had already arrived by noon. The journey from Delhi to Kathmandu was not a rosy ride for the group as our passports were with Chinese embassy for the group visa processing.  Our tour operator had asked us to carry Voter Identity Card which is another document accepted for Travel from India to Nepal. But many of the group members were not having voter Id card, and they had carried Aadhar Card. Later we came to know from other groups, that this  very common with Yatris, and most of them get their passports only while crossing the Chinese border.

Around 12:00 noon we reached the Kathmandu airport, to fly by ‘Buddha Airlines’ to our first stop Nepalgunj. Before that early morning,everyone went to Pashupatinath Temple to participate in morning aarti.

Nepalgunj is very close to Indian border, just three hrs. drive from Lucknow. We found out most of tourists prefer coming via this route.

Nepalgunj, to our surprise was very hot. It is supposed to be one of the big cities of Nepal. We were told that if there is any pending shopping then one must do it at Nepalgunj itself as going forward we will not get the opportunity to buy. We already had bought shoes and heavy jackets, so were not in mood for shopping, we were too tired, and slept. Early morning, we were asked to report to airport for our next destination Simikot.

Simikot is a hill station at a height of 11,940 feet . We were divided into groups, each group of 12  persons, for the flight to Simikot was to be in a small 14 seater aircraft. We reached airport around 6:00 am. The airport was very crowded for other groups were also present. We came to know, that for bad weather at Simikot, the flights were not going, hence we were asked to wait.

Nepalgunj airport as such is a decent airport but I think that day for the crowd of Yatris, there was total chaos at the airport. There were no food stalls, water, or AC arrangement. We all waited at the airport till 12 noon, and then were asked to return to the Hotel as it our tour operator decided that we will return to airport once the flights resume. We were glad to return to hotel as the heat was unbearable and also we were very hungry.

At hotel, we met rest of the group members, had lunch and then took a nap as still there was no update on the flight. Later we came to know that no flight went to Simikot, and we have to spend the night at Nepalgunj itself.

We realized that, in this journey, no plan works. One has to go with the flow, be prepared for unwarranted situations.

Next day, early in the morning, again we were asked to report at the Nepalgunj airport. On reaching airport we were relieved to find that the flights were operating. soon we boarded one of the ‘Seetha’ flights. The aircraft was really very small, had no AC and the engine made lot of sound. I was reminded of James bond movies. We had started getting feel of the journey, and the excitement rose high. For a change it was nice to see the airhostess dressed up in Jeans and T-shirt.

The journey to Simikot was around 1.5 hours. It was a treat to see the snow clad mountains, very close to us, as aircraft flew like a kite criss-crossing the mountains.

Simikot airport is in the midst of mountains, with a very beautiful scenic view. The runway area was very spacious, and it was a treat to watch, on one side Helicopters were taking off and landing to next halt that in Hilsa, and on other side small aircrafts arriving from Nepalgunj.

Simikot appeared to be a small hill village kind, where I believe the facilities were created mainly for Yatris. It is at an altitude of  11,940 feet, and we could feel the altitude pressure, as just a hundred meters walk from the airport to Hotel, made us breathless. We were lucky that few locals carried our baggage to the hotel.

About the baggage, I would like to mention that the tour operators normally provide a backpack, a handbag and some operators provide jackets too. One should carry the backpack and handbags provided by the operator as these bags are meant for such type of journey only. The baggage are very roughly handled throughout the journey, they might get held up at different stop while you may be stationed at another location, and as we travel onwards, one has to reduce baggage weight. We had brought a suitcase instead of the operator’s handbag. Our operator was kind enough to give a new travel bag to us.

At Simikot, we were put up in a hotel named ‘Mansarovar’. It was a small hotel, made from woods and was mainly meant for Yatris. The location of the hotel was awesome. The hotel staff were very good; they immediately served hot Tea, and later arranged dinner. The dinner was hot, and neatly served. I liked the spicy tomato chutney, which was meant to keep the body warm. Another important point about the hotel was that it had a Wifi setup.

Throughout our journey, being part of our spiritual Guru’s group, we used to have morning and evening prayer and meditation, and in the evening a discourse by the Guruji. Being part of such a group, made our journey more enriching.

Simikot was very hot in the afternoon when we had arrived, but by evening it turned very cold, and we had to wear sweater and jacket. About clothing, we were advised to bring comfortable clothes, so I had brought few tracksuits, and a good pair of shoes.

At Simikot, a few members fell sick- complaining of headache, and vomiting, due to the high altitude. We were advised to start I had Diamox tablet from Nepalgunj itself. Diamox helps in breathing at high altitude where there is lack of oxygen. But many were not willing to take it as it had having side effects too – like sensation in hands, stomach upset etc.

By evening more than half of our group had arrived but around 20 plus were held up at Nepalgunj. We realized though this unpredictability is going to continue.

Next morning, we were told to report at the airport by 6:00 am, as anytime the Helicopter services might start. Our next stop was Hilsa, a Nepali village, located at the border to China.

Next Part – Hilsa to Kailash Mansarovar

Link to Part 2